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发表于 2026-3-16 12:04:37
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Partisanship on Iran Is Dangerous for America
$ R3 D* Q9 A1 a& b5 ^( jTrump is doing the right thing for the U.S., and we Democrats should judge the war on 6 `6 x- G$ b1 z3 q) m" c& u
the merits.
0 L: \$ i) ?' q* l6 C$ g( jBy David Boies
* p3 _, e4 E7 k, v* T# s! {6 T6 ]) TMarch 12, 2026 1:34 pm ET
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Every past president since Bill Clinton, Republican and Democrat alike, has declared that
/ a4 y- o& }. H4 Y7 |Iran couldn’t be permitted to develop nuclear weapons. Not one acted to prevent it.
% p; `" e& b& DEvery president since Ronald Reagan has condemned Iran’s role in terrorism against 5 ^- c5 F4 a4 Y% V5 z
American citizens, interests and allies. Not one acted to stop it. Instead each president
7 w4 T: N! p5 P' s4 h- ileft his successor with a more dangerous Iran and a more complicated threat to
* k0 m8 |" E" T: d9 }, Jaddress. # W7 k/ {4 j6 k! Q# g
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Last June President Trump undertook a limited military operation designed to interrupt
% e$ v" l' h J: l1 \- s: ]; hIran’s development of nuclear weapons and discourage the country from continuing its
4 |9 P8 f N' D& Y2 k6 ?nuclear program. In the face of Iran’s refusal to forswear nuclear weapons and evidence 6 Q" Y3 l6 t* w& I' ~
that it was rapidly increasing the number, sophistication and range of its missiles, Mr.
2 p# `; O( [# n! g& J, {: iTrump began the current military campaign. . V/ {5 W2 @6 N; a8 Q: D) A
9 e, u3 ^: A1 x6 o" |If he hadn’t acted, his successor would have been left with an even more dangerous
9 M/ B" Z+ L- P, V8 achoice than his predecessors left him. Three or four years from now, the Iranian missiles
7 U% w. g6 i8 M2 _+ Z* {now hitting Iran’s neighbors could be hitting Berlin or London, perhaps even New York 7 Q! G! z& W% ~; P# l% x" n% D v
or Washington—perhaps with a nuclear device or at least a dirty bomb. 2 r) b2 Z3 \* \& U. ?$ G
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No sensible person wants a war, a president least of all. Wars destroy lives, waste 1 q q) p# t( ~- \4 `% K$ N- E
treasure and usually are unpopular. But the widespread hostility to this military action 0 O7 V6 a0 Q! n4 [2 n0 Q8 T7 S1 T
seems untethered to any serious discussion of the merits. What is the alternative? ) O% {, `6 p% Y# [- j. c
% t: f+ g5 N/ `; A$ U; {Obviously, few are prepared to say it is simply to permit religious madmen who swear 7 q% K7 B, N' S
“death to America” and back up their threats with terrorism to secure nuclear weapons 5 L6 x$ e% o9 v/ P% M& i
and the capability to deliver them. The scope and scale of Iran’s response show how & y) C+ k. u! B- Z
much its military capabilities have progressed, and how dangerous it would have been
" M2 h7 } i6 S( k( a: oto permit them to increase further. * _4 c4 R5 f0 B3 T
& a& P u' P! I, f6 TFor three decades we have tried everything that each president could think of. We’ve 7 u, L1 N& y! v! I q9 A
tried being nice, talking tough, moral suasion, negotiated agreement, economic
( v8 H$ a. C# u% M, Vsanctions. None worked. The problem is that there is only one language Iran’s leaders
/ F: S0 ^' d7 r6 m0 G9 kunderstand. ; C3 A$ H0 z2 H' O. `6 i
( ~ \: Q( @ i# E9 W9 [' U+ VI understand some of the hostility to Mr. Trump’s action. The isolationist wing of the
! C. R r' h9 b! FRepublican Party and the pacifist wing of the Democratic Party each are wrapped in the
, b4 l% ?6 K: ^4 |/ xfantasy that we can afford to ignore the capabilities and intentions of enemies because
1 e& F5 N2 \% I( R. c5 L' lthey are thousands of miles away. Two hundred years ago that view was credible. One
" k, `. D3 ~# n) Shundred years ago it was plausible. Today it takes only one missile carrying a nuclear or
F% V9 E {* e9 Qdirty bomb to get through our defenses, or one such device smuggled into this country, 4 J, ^0 F: E2 y" [9 G8 a1 _. W& P
to devastate a city.
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4 n! A- i# W* c% A B { m8 EI also understand—and deplore—the fringes of both parties that apparently hate Israel
. j3 [8 a! K: D7 ]$ }6 {and Jews so much that they oppose any action to neutralize Israel’s enemies.
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What is harder to understand, and particularly troubling for our country, is opposition 2 G+ y/ N# N1 o3 s, N
rooted simply in antipathy toward Mr. Trump himself. We used to say that politics stops / c# s$ E& W* B# y
at the water’s edge. That was never completely true; the willingness to bludgeon a & M5 s' X; j5 I1 `4 E+ y
president over foreign policy for domestic political gain is as old as Vice + B, C% C$ Y6 c$ F( n
President Thomas Jefferson’s attacks on President John Adams. Yet for most of our ; m& S3 T z2 ^7 d- Q0 s% e
history we have given the president the benefit of the doubt.
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More important, criticisms have historically been based on policy differences over the
% {9 o w4 [5 ?military action at hand, not knee-jerk opposition to the president himself. Many
. U3 T, m. H3 X# d3 KRepublicans supported Mr. Clinton’s military actions and President Obama’s surge in
8 H7 |; R1 C3 B5 yAfghanistan; many Democrats supported President George W. Bush’s actions in 1 H2 R- X, `6 |% j
Afghanistan and (at least initially) Iraq. More Republicans than Democrats probably , w' f+ }+ ~& f# l8 P4 z
supported President Lyndon B. Johnson’s actions in Vietnam. 6 I& {5 _, a) Z% L; ~
' x. Q6 v' C+ WMore important still, even when we believed a president’s actions were misguided, we 3 v0 s! x0 i5 k) `% a# t% J
almost always wanted him to succeed if possible. Some efforts to curtail what the
$ l; U& s) p8 X. H0 Ppresident is doing in Iran seem motivated simply by a desire not to give him a win—! x& v& ~5 K0 v4 W% M+ T" p! d# m
even if it means a loss for America. ! x+ t" \2 d& U [
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When North Korea invaded South Korea President Harry S. Truman acted to stop it. It
0 f* n" Y, q3 z% B5 H3 J$ Kwas so unpopular that Truman didn’t seek re-election in 1952. Dwight Eisenhower was : f6 u& o6 N2 ~- i9 E
elected on the promise that he would go to Korea and end the war. But while Truman
; a- A2 J/ H2 b2 o# Z0 e4 q* rwas president, lawmakers on both sides supported Truman, even when he removed the ) m0 [6 T8 g/ _& p
popular Gen. Douglas MacArthur from his command.
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. `& \! ]! A& R! b. STruman’s successful defense of South Korea began a four-decade bipartisan effort to
1 k `& g% t- ycontain, and ultimately end, communism as a global threat. One wonders what the 1 D* \9 U G( V6 j4 o6 ]0 G
result would have been if he faced a country as divided and partisan as today’s. 4 W+ n5 w) h% L, [2 r6 n5 \0 V( H
Republicans, including Mr. Trump, bear a share of the blame for the divisiveness and " v7 F# J9 Y$ v
extreme partisanship that has stunted our ability to cooperate and work together. Those
8 F; y% a) C/ R$ y2 Vof us who generally oppose Mr. Trump but who recognize the threat Iran poses need to
7 Z# P; N. d# S; K2 x* C- Zsupport the military action not because we owe anything to Mr. Trump but because we 6 b- H3 j5 |; U1 K9 Y
owe it to ourselves, our country and our children.
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If we opposed the war and succeeded in pressuring Mr. Trump to curtail it before the # G8 y8 f+ B6 H* [" R
mission is accomplished, we would have the satisfaction of defeating someone we 7 ?6 H3 U4 q1 K t+ m3 r5 b
generally oppose, which might help ourselves politically. But America would be worse . ^+ ?: Q' ~" R4 ~) w
for it.
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7 F* j- Q V/ A# l- S* GAmerica’s national security is too important to hold hostage to partisanship. We
# e- W2 f X) f7 e& E" i! t$ v7 oDemocrats need to begin by asking what our position would be, and why, if the action
: S! f5 M9 R: i$ p) o% |2 [# _. Hhad been taken by Mr. Clinton, Mr. Obama or Mr. Biden. I’m not counting on it, but
. O' s3 L+ e: d! m D2 imaybe in 2029, when a Democrat is in the White House, our Republican neighbors will
( j1 M' I; Q/ h' U) a; Qreturn the favor, and judge that president’s efforts to keep our nation safe on the merits
7 }/ G% D4 a2 b* Y/ fand not merely obstruct.
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If we believe that Iran presents a serious threat, we need to support the president on
+ W* l$ w. C; ~6 d1 J Pthis issue. There’s plenty to disagree with him about, and we don’t need to like or / J b3 j Q' G8 |0 E0 M
admire him. But on Iran we should be on common ground. Not primarily because we + M; i* X E" a9 q; ^# ~0 `4 T
want to reduce partisanship in foreign affairs—although that is conceivable. Not
! [5 \# N6 Y4 J. V2 i8 y! R2 j* Wbecause the voters will reward us for a more measured response—although I hope they
; ^4 T7 {( X& _& i! Iwill. But because it is the right thing to do for our country, our children and the , H) q5 V+ F/ Y
Democrat who will succeed Mr. Trump as president.
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2 J$ V4 C7 }5 n& H s! w* ?' h2 lMr. Boies is a founding partner of the law firm Boies, Schiller & Flexner |
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